Railroad crossing construction



-March 25, 1958 c. H. RENNELS RAILROAD CROSSING CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 24, 1953 2kfz-VIRE] Eg 19 INVENToR. @har/e5 H. kenne/s United States Patent O 2,szs,o19 RAILROAD CROSSING clorisrnucrloiu Charles H. Rennels, Woodworth, Ohio Application August 24, i953, serial No. 316,011 s claims (crass-s) This invention relates to railroad crossing constructionsa railroad crossing construction comprising a slab-like body of resilient material'rei'nforced longitudinally thereof to render the same Vcapable of selfsupport between the supporting ties of a railroad -upon which the slab is posi tioned.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of la railroad .crossing construction which may be readily installed on the ties of the railroad between the rails there of and readily shaped to tit the particular width or angle of crossing desired. ,j

A` still further object of theinyention .is the provision of a railroad crossing construction comprising a reinforced rubber-like slab capable of self-.support between thetiesof the railroad and flexibly adaptable tothe movement of said ties as Voccasioned by a railroad `train andproviding a resilient surface substantially level with the uppermost portions of the rails.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a unitary railroad crossing construction suita'ble for use on highway grade crossings and for the formation of hazards for the operating equipment due totheir lack of conformation with the track structure. Such constructions frequently become loose and misplaced and thereby form rough crossings, hazardous to those vehicles using the crossing as well as to the operating equipment on the railroad concerned.

The principal difficulties with such constructions as have heretofore been known in the art have been their relatively rigid characteristics as compared with the movable track structure.

The present invention accordingly has as one of its principal objects the elimination of such dilculties by the provision of a crossing construction that eliminates the possibility of displacement or damage to the crossing, the vehicle using it and the operating equipment on the railroad concerned.

These objects are attained by forming the crossing of several slabs of resilient construction properly reinforced r2,828,079 Patented Mar. 25, 1958 2 t and of a size equal tothe width between the rails and of a height enabling the top surface of the structure to be positioned substantially flush with the tops of the rails,

the reinforcement of the slab being so arranged that substantial longitudinal rigidity of the slab is realized en-l abling it to support itself between the spaced ties of the railroad.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the` combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed,

it being the intention to cover all changes and rnocliiicaf,

tions of the example ofthe invention herein chosen for purposes Iof the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spint and scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein: t

Figure 1 is a top plan view ofthe railroad ncrossing construction.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional elevational taken online ly equal to the space between the rails 10-10 is posi.

tioned therebetween with longitudinally extended flanges `14f14 on its opposite sides overlying and underlying the base and the head portions of the `rails 10--10respec tively.

The uppermost surface ofthe slab 12 is arranged `to be substantially flush with `the uppermost surface of thc rails 10, either by forming the slab 12 ,of a thickness equal to the height of the rails 1li-F10 or 'by positioning spacing members .15 on each of the ties 11, as best shown in Fig ure 3 of the drawing, whereby the slab 12 is supported in elevated relation to the ties 11 with its uppermost surface flush with the tops of rails 10-10. In either event, the slab 12 is retained in position between the rails 10-10 by the flanges 14. The slab 12 may be formed in a length capable of spanning a plurality of ties so that several of the slabs may be used in forming a crossing construction between the rails on a typical grade crossing.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that portions of such slabs, either cut to such desired size or so formed may be likewise employed on the outer sides of therails 10--10 over the ties 11 to extend the crossing construction to the full Width of the ties of the railroad track. Such a construction is shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, the secondary slab used for such purpose being indicated by the numeral 16 and is provided with la reinforcing member 17 and the secondary slab 16 is positioned on spacers 18 comparable (except as to length) with the spacers 15 heretofore referred to.

In such constructions, the highway pavement may be terminated a desirable distance beyond the ends of the ties so that it will not interfere with the ballasting of the track structure andthe slabs 16 provided in a suitable width.

Still referring to Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings it will be observed that the flanges 14-14 on the sides of the slab 12 provide space for the flanges of the wheels of the railroad equipment, one of such wheels being partially illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing and indicated by the numeral 19.

It will occur to those skilled in the art that if desired openings 20 may be formed in the reinforcing member 13 to facilitate vulcanization of the same to the slab and through'which spikes 21 may be positioned to insure against the unwanted movement of therslab with respectV for by theV resilience of the slab 12 as the spikes 21, if

used, will move with respect to the slab 12 rather than impart motion thereto other than that directly imparted the slab 12 by its tendency to follow the motion of its supporting ties.

Those skilled in the art will also recognize that While a longitudinally corrugated reinforcing member such is shown herein as preferred, iit may be possible to alternately employ pipe, rods, I-beams, or other longitudinally positionedmembers to enable the slab to supportr itself on the spaced tiesV 11, and a further modification will be obvious, in that the slab may be formed completely above the reinforcing member 13 which would thenrserveV as a base for the resilient slab. In such event, the otherwise desirable characteristic of double wearing surfaces ob' tained through turning the slab upside down is eliminated.,

It will thus be seen that the several objects of the in-V vention may be achieved by the formationof aV railroad crossing construction in accordance with the disclosure herein given.

Having thus described my invention, what I .claim is:

l. A crossing construction for a railroad track structure including ties and rails and comprising kone or more slabs of rubber-like resilient material having a longitudinally extending flange on each opposite side edge, positioned on said-ties between said rails with each of said anges underlying the head of thel adjacent rail and overlying the base of the adjacent rail, said resilient slab having a corrugated reinforcing memberdisposed therein, the .corrugations of said member extending parallel with said rails and acting to render said Vslabsemi-rigid in the direction of said corrugations. .f

2. A crossing construction for a railroad track structure including spaced ties and spaced parallel rails positioned thereon at right angles thereto comprising spacing members positioned one on each of said ties and a slab of resilient material having a longitudinally extending,

outwardly projecting ange on each opposite side edge,

Apositioned on said spacing member between said rails with said flanges positioned in closely spaced relation thereto, the combined height Vofsaid slab and said spacing members being vsubstantially equal to said rails, a reinforcing member in said slab, said reinforcing member being corrugated parallel with said rails.

3. The railroad crossing construction set forth in claim l andV wherein the reinforcing member has openings formed therein through which the resilient material of the slab extends and throughwhich fasteners joining said slab and ties may be positioned.

4. The railroad crossing construction set forth in claim 1 and wherein the longitudinal edges of the reinforcing plate end within said slab adjacent said longitudinal anges thereof.

V5. The railroad crossing construction set forth in Y claim 2 and whereinV the reinforcing memberY has openings formed therein` through which the resilient .material of the slab vextendsyand, through which ,fasteners joining said slab, spacing members and ties may be positioned.

6. The railroad. crossing construction set 'forth in claim 2 and wherein the longitudinal Vedges of the reinforcing member end within said slab adjacent said longitudinal anges of said slab.

7.' The railroad crossing construction set forth in claim 1 and whereinthe flanges are flexible and contact the webs of said rails.

8. The railroad crossing construction set forth in claim 1 and wherein the reinforcing member terminates short of the sides of the slabs to allow the tianges to ex past the heads of the rails when the slabs are positioned there` between.

References Cited in the lile of this patentV UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,548,057 Mulvihill Aug.'4,.1925 2,057,738 Pipes Q Oct. 20, 1936 2,076,338 Greely Apr. 6, 1937 2,137,566 i Clare Nov. 22, 1938 2,184,146 Leguillon Dec. 19, 1939 2,672,295 Cone Mar. 16, 1954 2,763,586 Noyes Sept. 18, 1956 

